


Sugar Push

by hipster-yams (madamedicelia)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi Keiji in a Skirt, Alternate Universe - Dance, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Swing Dancing, Thrift Shopping, Unwanted Dance Partners au, but it doesn't stay that way ;))))))), i live for him in a skirt, pure and sweet bokuto, secret shitlord keiji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 20:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6872422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamedicelia/pseuds/hipster-yams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akaashi "Cool Kid" Keiji wants to learn something to level up his cool factor and stumbles upon West Coast Swing. Nothing could mar such a suave dance, right? That's what Keiji thinks until he meets his dance partner. Will he ever get over all the embarrassing dance moves? Stay tuned to find out!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sugar Push

**Author's Note:**

> i just really wanted to write a cute swing dance au bye
> 
> never forget akaashi keiji is a secret shitlord
> 
> Looking Like This by Lyre Le Temps and [this fan art of Keiji by ikipin ](http://ikipin.tumblr.com/post/140115795402/did-someone-say-akaashi-in-a-skirt-everyone-should)were my insp

Keiji stuck his hands in his pockets. He sighed and impatiently kicked his feet, the socks gliding on the smooth wooden floors. He glanced at the wall of mirrors. Taking in his own image, he corrected his posture and concentrated on making his facial expression impassive. No one could know how excited he was to learn how to swing dance. 

A stray flier stapled to a column at the train station near his home had caught his attention one day. The clip art poser advertised cheap west coast swing dance lessons. He signed up immediately. 

Keiji thought the dance was, for the lack of a better word, _cool_. The dancers were composed and elegant, every movement compact and precise. The partners moved as if they were elastic, somehow mentally communicating the next step without a word. It relied on conserving energy and fluctuating dynamics between the two dancers. Keiji wasn’t particularly keen on being stuck with a partner but figured he could deal for the sake of looking suave. 

“Okay, we’re about to start,” the instructor announced. “Followers on the left and leaders on the right.” 

_Oh?_ Keiji had missed the introductions and welcomes by zoning out. The small crowd began to split. The messy-haired instructor and shorter blonde partner stood in the middle of the room, appraising the turnout. Keiji strolled off to the right, pretending like he knew what he was doing. 

He recognized no one in the crowd. _Thankfully._ How embarrassing would it be for one of his friends to see him learning how to dance? Konoha would never stop teasing him. Even when drunk in the darkness at the club, he made fun of Keiji’s stiff dance moves. 

“So first we’ll learn the anchor step,” the instructor said after everyone had chosen their side. “We’ll do it in place and then moving. It’s just three fast steps. Followers start with the right foot and leaders with the left.” He demonstrated in place and then asked everyone to try.

Keiji felt a little silly stepping in place but complied. It must come in handy later if it’s the first thing they’re being taught. They quickly moved on to moving and compiling the anchor step with the basic moving step. Keiji stepped as lightly as possible as he took two steps towards the mirror, watching his body and trying to keep any excess movements minimal. It was hard to not bounce during the triplets but Keiji found that if he kept his knees bent, the hinge allowed his upper body to keep relatively still. 

_Wait, isn’t dance supposed to be counted in eights?_ he thought as they as practiced the basic step with music. _This is only six._ He shrugged mentally. _Guess I missed that too in the intro._

“Now, we’re going to try with a partner so whoever is in front of you is now you partner for the remainder of the lessons.” The instructor turned to observe the crowd pairing up, a mildly amused smirk on his face. His partner regarded everyone passively but with sharp eyes. During the practice, he went around and quietly corrected people’s moves.

Keiji discreetly looked in front of him. No one. His heart seized up a bit. Surely there must be someone left. 

“Hey hey hey, do you have a partner?”

Keiji reigned in his startle response and turned around. A man lightly bounced on the tips of his toes, eager for an answer. His with outrageous white and black spiked hair did not even wiggle from the movement. Keiji looked around, searching for anyone else available. He was out of luck. He sighed and shook his head. 

“Cool. I’m Bokuto!” He quickly bowed. 

“Akaashi,” Keiji replied with a more restrained bow himself. 

The instructor clapped to get their attention and demonstrated the arm movements for the next step, a sugar push. He took up his partner’s hand, showing how to hold it before doing the move. They looked elastic as they quickly compressed and stretched, their limbs moving fluidly, coming a lot closer than Keiji realized he would have to do. He side-eyed Bokuto, evaluating if he could stand to get that close. He was slightly taller so at least they wouldn’t meet directly face to face and Keiji could smell his citrusy cologne. _I can deal with this,_ he thought, eyeing Bokuto’s muscled arms. 

“Ready to try it?” Bokuto asked. 

Keiji nodded and held out his hand. Bokuto lightly held it. Keiji noticed his hands were smaller but stockier than his own lithe ones. He had chipped remnants of red nail polish that make Keiji’s own manicure look clean and neat, despite its own chips. 

Stepping with the instructor’s loud counting, Keiji basically danced in place while Bokuto moved towards him. His long stride brought him too close to Keiji’s personal space for comfort. Keiji stiffened up and held his breath. He was barely able to quickly grab Bokuto’s hand to complete the push. He hadn’t even recovered when Bokuto danced forward again.

Keiji tried to concentrate on his footsteps and arm motions and ignore Bokuto’s presence. His eyes flickered to meet Bokuto’s and the shock of seeing the bright gold irises made him almost step on his own feet and push Bokuto away too quick. 

“Too much to concentrate on at once, huh?” Bokuto joked, trying to step correctly to realign with the instructor’s counting. 

Keiji frowned and put more effort into his motions, trying to mimic their instructors’ easy grace. After two more sugar pushes, the instructors put on some music. Keiji was expecting old fashion music with lots of brass and piano but these were much more contemporary songs. Counting in his head, he noticed that the music fit with the dance, though much faster than the instructor had been counting. 

Bokuto was grinning and was doing a little shoulder shake while snapping, clearly enjoying the music. It churned Keiji’s butter that he was perfectly on time. 

Keiji sighed and offered a hand. Bokuto gladly took it and launched into the simple step. 

“Please don’t stomp, Bokuto-san; that’s not the point of this dance,” Keiji commented, trying to keep his annoyance out of his tone. His enthusiasm for the class has draining by the second.

Bokuto’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, sorry!” He corrected himself, stepping more lightly. 

However, his concentration in his feet made his arm movements messy. He would step too far back after the push, straining their held hands. Keiji tried to pull him back before he reached that point. Bokuto was not expecting this and the force tripped him forward until he bumped into Keiji.

“You know, they call this move the ‘sugar’ push for a reason,” the messy-haired instructor said with a smirk and quite possibly a wink but his hair was covering one eye so it might have just been a blink. His partner elbowed him in the side and shoved him away, forcing him to go check up on the other students. 

Keiji felt the blood rush to his cheeks and stepped away. Bokuto chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Kuroo’s just teasing,” he said. 

_Is that his name?_ Keiji rolled his eyes, hoping that his embarrassment wasn’t visible. “Let’s just try this again,” he sighed.

Bokuto perked up and cheerfully grabbed his hand from his side and launched into the dance. He counted under his breath, annoying Keiji. It was far from professional to have to count out loud to dance correctly but he simultaneously appreciated the help. The contradictory feelings made his eyebrow twitch. 

Kuroo flicked the music off and waited for everyone’s attention. He quickly introduced the next move, a left side pass. He asked all leaders to sit so the followers could use the mirror to practice their part. Keiji lounged on the floor, watching Bokuto try to follow the instructions. He stepped to loud and hard and Keiji itched with the desire to correct him. 

Instead, when it was the leaders’ turn to learn their steps, Keiji strived to move as smoothly and delicately as possible. _Maybe he’ll learn by example._

“Akaashi,” Bokuto whispered loudly. “You look kinda stiff; loosen up.” 

Keiji raised his shoulders and straightened his back in annoyance, fighting to keep his face nonplussed but he could feel his lip pulling down. Bokuto gave him a double thumbs-up and a smile, as if he interpreted Keiji’s frown to be directed at Keiji’s own dancing and not the unwanted criticisms. 

Instruction complete, Bokuto rolled to his feet and offered Keiji a hand. He gingerly took it, holding it only as much as he needed to complete the turn. Once they started dancing again, Keiji noted a problem. Bokuto was taller than him. Bokuto also needed to pass under Keiji’s bent arm to perform the pass. His spikey hair brushed Keiji’s elbow even when Bokuto ducked. 

Keiji eyed the other groups that managed to complete the pass effortlessly. He was quite bored of basically stepping in place while Bokuto got to do most of the actual movement. Keiji longed to sweep across the floor and spin elegantly. Moving his arm up and down was getting tiresome.

“How about we switch positions?” Keiji suggested after Bokuto had banged his head into his elbow by straightening up too fast. His hair was a little dented too. Keiji hid a smile at Bokuto’s dramatic whining.

Bokuto nodded excitedly, injury forgotten. “Let’s try it.”

The first few sugar pushes were awkward and disjointed as each tried to remember the other’s steps. Keiji had only just barely gotten the steps when Bokuto led him into a side pass. The shock led him to step too close to Bokuto, quickly meeting his eyes before stepping away. He hadn’t realized he held his breath until he completed his anchor step and exhaled. 

Bokuto’s golden eyes followed him as they danced and Keiji refused to be the first to look away. They weren’t scrutinizing or judging, only observing. He hated knowing Bokuto saw when he stepped incorrectly or his movements stuttered. His gaze caused his nerves to stand on end. Keiji attributed it to his mild annoyance that Bokuto could watch him so intensely but not have enough space of mind to concentrate on his own footwork. Luckily, another side pass let him spin and finally break eye contact. 

Kuroo turned on the music and called out which of the two steps the couples should perform. As a leader, Bokuto changed pace very easily, smoothly sliding into the next move even though his footwork was loud and messy. Sometimes Kuroo voice was lost in the music and Bokuto made up the next step. Keiji fought his choice and tried to mimic what the other groups were doing. He was mortified to be doing the wrong move.

The music cut and the couples tumbled to a pause. Kuroo had his arms crossed and a cocky grin. His partner looked like he wanted to die.

“A word of advice. Commit to your errors,” he said. His partner looked like he was going to melt into the ground. 

Keiji covered his mouth to hide his snort of laughter. Bokuto outright cackled. 

Unable to resist the urge to throw shade, Keiji leaned close to Bokuto and whispered, “Is that why his hair is like that?”

Bokuto tried to hide his laugh, giving Keiji a scandalized and amused look. “I didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”

Keiji gave him a wry smile and turned back to watch the instructors. He could feel Bokuto watching him but ignored him. 

“If you fuck up, just stick with it,” Kuroo explained. “This is a type of dance where the leader has most of the power to dictate the next move. Even if you do a different move than what I say, just go with it.” He walked over to the sound control and turned on the music, trumpets blaring through the speakers. “Now let’s go again.”

Bokuto grinned and Keiji could read the mischief clear on his face. He cautiously took Bokuto’s hand and prepared for the worst. Since they only knew two moves, it was a little hard to spice up the dance instructions. Bokuto’s smile faltered as he realized this and Keiji gave his best shit-eating grin. 

“Just wait until we learn more moves,” Bokuto huffed. He stepped to the side to pass Keiji to his other side, missing the eye roll directed at him. 

“So you’re going to continue with the lessons?” Keiji asked. He had heard whispers of people being bored already and who were going to drop out. 

“Of course!” Bokuto said as he pulled Keiji into a sugar push. Keiji let his body be dragged into the dance move. 

Keiji wasn’t sure if he was annoyed to be stuck with Bokuto for the remainder of the lessons or amused. Bokuto was enthusiastic and a bit too loud but also interesting and entertaining to poke fun at. 

The two continued dancing with Bokuto counting under his breath until the music faded out. The instructors had the class sit and watch them review. Keiji sat crossed legged while Bokuto sprawled out, tapping his mismatched socked feet to the beat. 

“We also have an hour of free dance if you want to stay. You can ask us questions or practice some more or just leave,” Kuroo said. 

Most people started piling out of the studio, chattering amongst themselves. A few stayed and slowly went over the steps. Kuroo’s partner sat against the side of the sound control, pulling a DS from his backpack while Kuroo scrolled through the song choices. 

“Do you want to practice?”

Keiji turned and observed Bokuto. He was practically vibrating with energy. Keiji glanced at the door. He sighed.

“Fine.”

Bokuto squawked in joy and grabbed his hand, dragging him over to an empty space of floor. As they ran through he moves again and again, Keiji wondered why he agreed to this. As the simple moves were slowly engrained in both their muscles, Bokuto’s dancing slowly grew messier. He waved his arms to the swing, lifted his legs high to stamp and spin in place. Keiji felt like he was be yanked around more than dancing. 

“Bo, this is West Coast Swing, not East Coast,” Kuroo called from across the room. 

“It’s free dance!” Bokuto yelled back. 

Kuroo smiled and shook his head, turning back to his partner. 

“As much as I hate to admit it,” Keiji said in a completely unapologetic tone, “he’s right.”

Bokuto shrugged as he passed Keiji. “Whacha gonna do about it?”

Keiji frowned but held his comment. The only thing he could do was stop dancing. Instead he asked, “You seem like you know Kuroo.”

Mood swinging like his limbs, Bokuto grinned. “He’s my best friend. He was embarrassed to be around me because he says like I dance like a white dad at a cookout.”

Keiji snorted. “I can see it.”

Bokuto squawked in affront. “Well, I’m here to fix that.”

“I see no difference so far,” Keiji teased, a smirk on his lips.

Bokuto squinted at him as they stepped together for another sugar push. 

“Is that supposed to be a glare, Bokuto-san?” Keiji asked in his most polite tone of voice. His smirk still tugged on his mouth as he tilted his chin up to look at Bokuto. 

Bokuto’s eyes flickered around his face until Keiji stepped away with the beat. “So why are you here?”

Keiji’s satisfied look dropped and he looked at the mirror behind them. “It’s a cool dance,” he mumbled.

Either not hearing or ignoring him, Bokuto _hmphed_ in victory. “I bet it ‘cause you dance like a rock.”

Keiji clicked his tongue. 

Bokuto laughed. “But that’s what we’re here for!”

He continued his exaggerated movements, still counting out loud, while Keiji tried to keep his limbs quiet. Soon after, the playlist ended and Kuroo kicked them out of the studio. Bokuto waved farewell with both arms as they parted ways at the door. 

Keiji was still annoyed at his murky feelings towards Bokuto. He wasn’t sure if he felt dread or excitement for the next time he would see Bokuto.

~.~

“Right side pass,” Bokuto mumbled.

Keiji hummed in acknowledgment, concentrating on his anchor step. Bokuto had taken to announcing which step they would be doing. While it wasn’t as professional as Keiji hoped, it made things a lot smoother. 

Today they were learning the right side pass, or underarm turn. It wasn’t quite a spin but the turn happened fast enough for Keiji’s skirt to flare up. It was the aesthetic he was going for ever since he saw the advert for the class. His pleasure bubbled up as a small smile. 

Bokuto led him into another right side pass. Keiji felt his skirt brush Bokuto’s legs as he stepped. These types of moves were what he always thought of when he watched West Coast Swing. 

Kuroo eventually decided the class was good enough to move onto performing the move to music. Bokuto stopped announcing which move was next as Kuroo was yelling them over the music. 

However, Bokuto did not stay quiet. He hummed to the music, the muted noises slowly morphing into half words and lyrics. Keiji tried to ignore it but Bokuto was so close it was hard. He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

“Dancing queen,” Bokuto sang, no longer drifting off in the middle of sentences. “Feel the meat on the tangerine.”

Keiji hid his amused snort as a cough. Bokuto didn’t seem to notice and keep plowing on, horribly mangling the lyrics. 

“I can’t help but overhear,” Keiji began when he had heard enough. He fought to keep his face straight. “But do you really think those are the lyrics? Or are you trying to be funny and failing miserably?”

Bokuto’s eyebrows practically shot to his hairline. “They’re not?”

Keiji stared at him, biting his lips to keep quiet. Bokuto’s unchanging face caused Keiji to lose all composure. In his struggle to remain quiet, he snorted with his giggles and tried to hide his face in his arm, messing up both their dance steps and timing. 

Bokuto’s face quickly changed from confused to hurt to pleased fluster. 

“Sometimes making it up is more fun,” Bokuto announced proudly, quickly whisking the two back on tempo. 

Keiji bit his lip as questions gnawed on his brain. He decided to let one free. “Bokuto-san,” he started, still unsure and hesitant. “How are you not embarrassed by your errors?”

Pursing his lips, Bokuto pondered while completing a left side pass. “Don’t know.”

“Inspiring.”

Bokuto squawked in offense. “I’m still thinking!” he retorted. Another pass completed before he spoke again. “Well, I guess I’m not really. Not _not_ embarrassed.”

“You’re right. You skip it and go straight to depressed. Even your hair droops.”

“Akaashi! Have some subtlety,” Bokuto cried. 

“Look who’s talking,” Keiji mumbled while stepping out for the beginning of a sugar push. 

Before Bokuto could reply, the music cut and Kuroo clapped for attention.

“Next weekend, the local Swing Club is hosting a dance. It’s free and they have basic lessons before. Not,” he paused surveying his class with a calculating eye. “That any of you would need it.” He winced suddenly.

“You’re welcome to come and participate or just watch, I guess,” Kuroo’s partner said. He was stepping to reestablish his balance after stepping on Kuroo’s foot. Keiji suppressed a smile. 

“You can watch me and Kenma show up the professionals,” Kuroo said with a lopsided grin. Kenma looked like he wanted to snap at him.

Keiji felt something on his left. Bokuto was leaning in with a conspiratorial wave of hand. 

“Are you gonna go?” Bokuto whispered. He glanced at the instructors as they gave a few more announcements. Then he turned his bright eyes to meet Keiji’s, earnest curiosity and hope showing bluntly in his golden irises. 

_Yes._ Keiji widened his eyes. He wanted to go, both to watch the professionals and to practice. However more than that, he wanted to dance with Bokuto. He shoved that intrusive thought to the back of his mind, refusing to acknowledge it or how his body agreed.

Shrugging, Keiji coolly replied, “Maybe. We’ll see.”

The hope in Bokuto’s eyes didn’t diminish one bit.

~.~

“That’s such a pretty skirt, Akaashi!”

Keiji jumped, nearly slipping in his socks on the hardwood floor. Bokuto emerged from the overly crowded racks of the thrift store. He was holding a collection of bright hoodies and cheesy t-shirts. 

“What are you doing here?” Keiji asked, shuffling around. His neck felt hot. 

Bokuto held up the clothes, some slipping off his arm. A shirt just barely escaped a tumble to the floor when its hanger got caught on another item. “Trying to find some new old clothes. Maybe I’ll find something nifty for the dance.”

“Do you live near here?” Keiji’s apartment was only a ten minute walk away and he’ll be damned if he lives near Bokuto. They were already shopping for the same purpose and he didn’t want any more connection than they already had. That thought, the emotion supporting it, from their last class niggled the back of his mind. 

“Like a twenty minute bus ride away but I heard this thrift shop has some good stuff,” Bokuto said, glancing at the racks next to him.

Keiji hummed in acknowledgement. That would explain why he’s never seen him here before. Keiji visits the shop practically every week. He mentally sighed in relief.

Taking one last look at himself in the mirror, Keiji walked back into the dressing room. He pulled the curtains tightly closed behind him. Eighties music played quietly in the background, punctuated by footsteps on squeaky floorboards and the shuffle of customers moving clothing. 

“Hey, Akaashi?” Keiji could hear the hanger squeaking against the metal rod as Bokuto pushed them. “I never got your first name.”

Chewing on his bottom lip, Keiji answered, “I could say the same about you.”

“Koutarou.” The excited voice called out and then squawked as a hanger clanged against the floor. 

“Keiji.” He shimmied out of the skirt and pulled on his own clothes. He stepped out the room into a face full of feathers and neon.

“Akaashi Keiji, what do you think of this shirt?” Bokuto proudly held back a button-up with a colorful owl print. 

“Bold. Just like you.” That earned him a pleased grin.

It was odd to meet Bokuto here of all places. It felt weird to see him outside of the dance studio. However, Keiji enjoyed the company and hated that he enjoyed specifically Bokuto. What was he, 16? At 20, he felt too old to have silly little crushes like this. 

Bokuto convinced Keiji to be his judge as he tried his selections. He put together ridiculous outfits, making Keiji cover his mouth to hide his giggles. Only his snark escaped the barrier. Bokuto then decided it was his new goal to make Keiji laugh and his outfits only grew in silliness. (He ended up loving the clothes.)

“Bokuto-san? Could you get this book?” Keiji pointed to the top shelf.

Wearing a cowboy hat and too-large leather jacket, Bokuto walked over. 

“The yellow one, please.” Keiji would have tried to balance on the bottom shelf to reach but wasn’t sure it was strong enough to hold his weight.

“The Nancy Drew one? Aren’t those for little kids?” Bokuto teased. He easily grabbed the thin novel. 

Keiji frowned. “I like mystery stories.” 

Bokuto chuckled as he handed over the book. “That’s so nerdy.”

Keiji huffed and looked away. As Bokuto’s mood flip-flopped and he reached out to apologize, Keiji hip-checked him. 

Bokuto slipped in his mismatched socks and fell into a rack of sweaters. Keiji felt bad but couldn’t stop his giggles. He hadn’t intended for the shove to be so powerful but the image of Bokuto covered in granny sweaters was too sweet. 

“Akaashi!” Bokuto sat up, pulling off sweaters and hangers. “I can’t believe you did that!” As expected. 

“Your laugh is so pretty!”

_That_ was not expected. 

The air froze in Keiji’s throat. His heart pumped blood to his neck and face. Bokuto watched his expression change with curiosity. Keiji opened his mouth to reply but could think of no words.

“Can you please not do that?” the store clerk reprimanded. “Please clean that up and no more roughhousing or I’ll have to ask you two to leave.”

Never had Keiji been so happy to be scolded. Bokuto scrambled up with a loud apology and started putting the sweaters back on the rack. Keiji quietly apologized until the clerk stalked away. 

Bokuto and Keiji looked at each other. 

They both broke into laughter. Keiji tried to wave Bokuto’s loud cackles away but could barely hide his own behind his hand. They muffled their laughs and fixed the mess as the clerk glared at them. 

“I can’t believe you’re going to get me banned from my favorite store,” Keiji whispered as Bokuto sloppily folded the clothing.

Bokuto might’ve moped if it weren’t for the giggles punctuating the accusation.

~.~

“We’re spicing it up today!”

Keiji heard Kenma groan and make a twisted face at Kuroo. He sympathized. 

“We’ll be rotating partners. It’ll help to dance with new people. Learn something from them,” Kuroo announced. “Or don’t. It’s your money.” Kenma gave him a withering look.

Keiji turned to Bokuto. He looked like a chicken who broke its egg. Quashing his nerves, he patted Bokuto’s shoulder lightly. “Don’t miss me too much, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto squawked and stood up straight. “Don’t miss my excellent dancing too much,” he retorted with a smug grin.

“Can’t miss what doesn’t exist.”

“Akaashi!”

Keiji gave him a sly smirk and walked away. He knew he would look cool but he also didn’t know where he was going. Hopefully someone would take him as a partner before his cool exit turned awkward. 

“You looking for a leader?”

Keiji turned. The young man had black hair and an angry expression. It clashed with his pink blush. 

“Yes,” Keiji replied. He mentally cheered. He pulled another cool move with utter perfection. 

The music started again and they began dancing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kuroo and Bokuto pairing up. They laughed as they pulled off silly moves, mostly due to Kuroo attempting more complex steps with a newb like Bokuto. 

“So Bo,” Kuroo started, spinning around his friend. “What’s up with those googly eyes you give your partner every class?”

“Stop pretending to be a gossip, you nerd,” Bokuto laughed. Over Kuroo’s shoulder, he saw Akaashi struggling to find a rhyme with his new partner. 

“I can practically sense the increase in dopamine and oxytocin when you’re around him. Though,” Kuroo frowned. “That isn’t really possible because neurotransmitters don’t have a smell.”

“Is this how you woo Kenma every night?” Bokuto asked, sticking out his tongue.

“What, do you need some advice?” Kuroo used the sugar push to get into Bokuto’s face and flutter his eyelashes, deceptively sweet.

“Bro, that’s gay.”

“Bro, _you’re_ gay.”

“Shit, you’re right.”

Kuroo snorted. “Judging by how he keeps ooging at you over his shoulder when you’re not looking, I think you’ll be fine.”

“Shit man, didja know he’s a photographer? And he’s studying psychology and English? At the same time? Plus he writes and plays volleyball for fun? He’s incredible,” Bokuto gushed. Kuroo led him into some move he didn’t know but he managed to stay on his feet.

“I can go find out what he thinks of you,” Kuroo suggested with an eyebrow waggle.

“Don’t meddle! He’d catch on right away.” To emphasize his point, Bokuto scanned the room to make sure Akaashi, or anybody else, could hear their conversation.

“Then he’s already caught on to your giant crush on him,” Kuroo laughed. 

Bokuto blanched and then perked up. “You really think?”

Kuroo gave a half-lidded lazy grin. His next dance step immediately took Bokuto down to the floor with the speed and complexity. 

Keiji’s new partner was a little too firm and stiff. He pushed Keiji too far during the sugar pushes and pulled too tightly during the passes, much like Bokuto during their first few lessons. Keiji voiced as much. 

“Oh.” Mr. Angry And Too Eager looked at his hands and loosened their grip on Keiji’s. He also adjusted his pace accordingly. When they were told to switch again, he thanked Keiji honestly. 

Keiji bowed politely and had to quickly turn away to keep from laughing when he saw Kuroo attempt a lift with Bokuto and drop him flat on his ass. _I wonder how doing a lift with Bokuto would feel…_ Keiji wondered. With wide eyes, he shook his head and concentrated on dancing with his next partner. 

They rotated through a few more people. Keiji quietly corrected the odd error as they danced. His partners seemed appreciative. The varying heights and styles threw him off. He found himself comparing them to Bokuto’s style. He attributed it to only having experience with Bokuto, not his enjoyment of Bokuto’s loud style or gentle hands or the fruity smell of his perfume. At last, he was paired with Kenma. _Finally, someone who knows how to dance,_ Keiji thought. 

After a nod of greeting, they danced silently. Keiji struggled to keep up with Kenma’s sudden decisions and smooth moves.

“If you relaxed, it would be easier,” Kenma commented. “I guess.”

Keiji startled. He threw off their timing but Kenma quickly corrected it.

“You look like you’re afraid to mess up,” he continued. His voice was quiet, even during the pauses of the music. “It’s a beginner class, we’re all making mistakes. It’s fine if you do too.”

Keiji curled in himself. He felt exposed. Kenma read him so easily. Was he that obvious? Keiji quietly thanked him and moved to the next partner. He was off for the rest of the class, uneasy with Kenma’s words and the truth behind them. 

He was good at many things, a “smart kid” as his parents called him. As he got older, he continued to try to expand his talents. However, he shied away from things he didn’t know how to do. He was shocked and apprehensive whenever he failed at new things. He immediately dropped them, assuming he had no talent for it and that he wouldn’t get much better. He’d rather spend his time on other things. He’d been called intelligent and talented for so long that he no longer knew how to learn. He was afraid of mistakes and the disapproval he’d get from failure. 

It was a shock to Keiji himself that he signed up for the dance classes. He obvious was no good naturally. His body wouldn’t obey his thoughts and the movements came out mechanically and awkward. Keiji had long ago realized that he was afraid of failure, of making errors. These classes were a way to test himself, a sort of self administered exposure therapy. 

He was glad he knew nobody in the class. No one could see his mistakes. He still hated making them. Whenever he saw the instructors or other peers pick up the moves so quickly and smoothly, he felt jealous and ashamed of his own lacking skills. 

Keiji glanced at Bokuto over his partner’s shoulder. They moved too quickly and their hands were sweaty. Bokuto was laughing with his new partner, chatting excitedly about something or another. 

Bokuto knew him. Keiji looked at himself in the mirror. His smoothed his furrowed brows and took a deep breath. He often took the same train to the classes as Bokuto. They chatted the whole way and had even once missed their stop because they were so immersed with each other. Bokuto knew him outside of the class, knew more to Akaashi Keiji than his cool exterior. 

Keiji felt naked to him. He was scared of the honestly but also took comfort in it. Bokuto never laughed at him or talked down to him when he made a wrong step. He was interested in the hobbies Keiji kept to himself because he wasn’t good at them. He suggested that he could help but never shoved his advice at Keiji. He was perfectly content to play arcade games with him and spent tons of coins on the machines because Keiji sucked at arcade games but loved playing them. 

In the last few minutes of the class, Keiji was paired with Bokuto again. 

“So have you learned anything from your trip around the class?” Bokuto asked with a smile.

Keiji chewed his lip as all this thoughts ran rampant around his mind. He gave up sorting them and just accepted them. “Perhaps.”

“So you’ll teach me them tomorrow night at the dance, right?”

Keiji smiled at him. “Is that really a mystery?”

~.~

Keiji walked up to the building, frowning at the map on his phone. The wind was blowing his skirt around even as he held one end of it. He wanted to get in this place before the wind took him. The bus stop was already far from the address but Keiji got lost in the winding roads of this foreign part of the city.

Squinting at the tiny shack in front of him, Keiji tried to find the number to confirm this was the place. _1209, yep this is it._ It was a tiny green house, abutting a rock wall. Warm yellow lights leaked from the windows. The parking lot was too full for the space available in the building. 

Walking up to the dark door, Keiji knocked. After a beat, someone opened.

“Ah, are you here for the dance?” they asked. They had short, curly orange hair and a curious expression. “The lessons are over though so I hope you don’t need them!” Their bright brown eyes matched their excitement. They held the door open for Keiji. 

Thanking them, he walked in. The entrance was richly decorated with antiques and mismatched upholstered chairs. The empty front desk looks like something out of the _Twilight Zone_.

“It’s this way.” The person held him through a pair of double doors, the doorknob worn shiny from use.

The room was huge. The dim lights reflected off the well worn but still glittering hardwood floors. A small stage dotted the rock wall, the vintage Shure microphones an anachronism near the new sleek stereos. There were elegantly decorated tables and sofas on the other side. A bar stood behind the seats. People lounged around, in clothes ranging from vintage and fancy to jeans and sneakers. Others danced, some with practiced ease and others with all the elegance of a drunk monkey.

“I gotta go find my dumbass of a partner but have fun!” The orange-haired person waved at him as they skipped away, blue dress bouncing with their steps.

Keiji looked around. He was really counting on Bokuto being here but couldn’t spot that familiar shell of black and white hair anywhere. He shuffled around nervously, moving towards the seating area. What if he wasn’t here? What if Keiji had interpreted him wrong? What if he was too late and Bokuto already left?

He dropped himself into the nearest settee and peeled off his gloves, continuing to wring his hands. 

“Looking for someone?” 

Keiji craned around. Sat in the chair behind was Bokuto. His vest was one Keiji remembered seeing at the thrift store, a bright and warm yellow with a monochromatic owl print. (A true find.) However what was most shocking was that the stiff shock of an up-do was nowhere to be seen. Instead, his hair curled back gently, looking softer and more inviting that Keiji had ever seen. _Fuck he’s hot._

_I gotta play it cool,_ Keiji thought through the shock and attraction.

“Ah yes, just someone that was once described to me as looking like an owl,” Keiji said as demurely as he could. He spun in his seat and crossed his legs, smirking.

Any illusion of being suave was immediately destroyed. “Who?” Bokuto demanded. 

Keiji clapped his hand over his mouth in shock, keeping his laughter from escaping. 

“Who?” Bokuto asked again, leaning forward with eyes burning with curiosity. 

Keiji turned his head as he started laughing harder. 

“Wha- _Oh_.” Bokuto collapsed back into the chair with a thump.

“I can’t believe you fell for that,” Keiji said with honesty despite his giggles.

Bokuto looked away and pouted, toying with his collar as he muttered excuses. 

Keiji touched Bokuto’s knee. Stirring up all his bravery, he said, “I think it was cute.”

Bokuto’s face burned and he ran his hand through his hair. “Well, when you put it that way…”

After patting his knee, Keiji stood up. “Shall we dance?” he asked, holding out his hand. 

“Yes!” Bokuto squawked, bolting up. He let Keiji guide him to the floor, still holding his hand to dance. People around them were doing complicated lifts and sliding around with ease and elegance. Their special dance shoes let them spin incredibly fast one second and then stamp to a full stop the next before launching into a lift. It seemed the pros scared most of the beginners off the floor. 

“Ya know, I almost thought you would’ve left,” Bokuto said once they began dancing. “I got so lost trying to find this place.”

“I had a feeling you would show up.” Keiji smiled. “A few minutes of waiting wouldn’t scare me off.”

Bokuto grinned widely, spinning Keiji. “All the sass is worth it for when you to say things like that.”

“Bokuto-san, those aren’t the steps for a side pass.”

“Akaashi, don’t ruin the moment!”

Keiji winked, fighting his own smile. 

Bokuto squinted at him, exaggerated thinking expression pulling his face comically. “With all your formalities and honorifics, no one would guess you have such a twisted personality.”

Keiji stuck out his tongue.

“Like, you could probably kill someone and no one would suspect you because you sound so polite,” Bokuto continued.

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Bokuto-san.”

“Wait, I can do better than that!” Bokuto said, eyes wide. 

“Sorry,” Keiji interrupted, voice light and teasing. “Your one chance is up. Try again later.”

“What are you, a magic eight ball?” Bokuto teased. 

“Concentrate and ask again.”

Bokuto squeezed his eyes shut. “Will Akaashi Keiji forgive me for my shitty compliments?" Before he even finished his question, he held Keiji’s waist and swung him into a hip lift, quickly spinning before putting him down. Keiji felt the wind in his throat as they spun, happily holding onto Bokuto. They both laughed as they both stepped crookedly and off rhythm. Keiji didn’t even care that others could see them dancing messily. 

_Who cares is we’re bad dancers if we’re having fun?_

“Signs point to yes,” Keiji replied once Bokuto pulled him into a sugar push. 

Bokuto grabbed the air, hissing gleefully “Yes!”

Keiji rolled his eyes at Bokuto’s antics but his heart felt warm to know that Bokuto cared so much about what his words did to Keiji.

“Okay one more question.” Bokuto chewed his lips nervously as he nudged Keiji into a right side pass. “Does Akaashi Keiji like me back?”

His heart caught in his throat but Keiji wasn’t afraid of it anymore. Being with Bokuto made him happy and helped him relax. He felt safe being himself around Bokuto and didn’t feel the constant pressure of being perfect. Being around Bokuto was as freeing and light as the summer and Keiji wanted to bask in that special sunlight of Koutarou’s. 

Instead of waiting for Bokuto to lead, Keiji stepped close to Bokuto, a sugar push in slow motion. “Yes,” he whispered, breathless from joy and relief.

Bokuto’s grin so wide and pure that it drew one out of Keiji, filled all the joy he was feeling in his heart. Keiji’s let go of Bokuto’s hands to trace his smiling muscles, the wrinkles near his eyes, feel the heat from his face as he lay his hands over the sides. The soft hairs tickled his hands and Keiji longed to run his hands through it. 

“So I get to ask a question now, right?” Keiji looked into Bokuto’s eyes, heart rising for the beauty of the golden irises dotted with brown and hazel and hooded with pale eyelashes. He wasn’t sure he would ever get used to their radiance, especially when they were looking at him with such strong emotion. 

Bokuto nodded, licking his lips.

“Can I kiss you?”

No magic eight ball could even compare to Bokuto’s response.

**Author's Note:**

> this is so gay, i can't believe myself
> 
> hmu on tumblr @hipster-yams


End file.
